ISIS Could Be Ready to Purchase Nuclear Bombs From Pakistan Within a Year

ISIS has recently claimed that the group could be ready to purchase nuclear bombs from Pakistan within a year. The terrorist group has published this in its propaganda magazine named Dabiq. The article mentions the fast pace at which the militant outfit is expanding and spreading the boundaries of the self-styled Islamic caliphate. It says that as ISIS is the wealthiest terrorist group in the world, the militant outfit would be in a position to purchase its first nuclear bomb very soon.

The article, which is hyperbolic in nature, has been attributed to John Cantile, the British hostage of the terror outfit for more than two years. It further claims that ISIS has already spread its roots as the most explosive Islamic group in the modern world. It is now going beyond that into being the most explosive Islamic movement that the modern world has ever seen within a period of one year.

Cantile is a photojournalist who is regularly used in the terrorist group’s propaganda campaigns. He has appeared in a series of videos on YouTube named, Lend Me Your Ears, and numerous other videos. The article describes other militant groups like Boko Haram, which have pledged allegiance to ISIS recently. The article has been named The Perfect Storm, and claims that ISIS has formed a united global movement spreading across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The article also claims that this alignment of different terrorist groups in the region has taken place at the best possible time as ISIS terrorists have captured a large cache of weapons from Iraq, Iran, and the US like missile systems, tanks, rocket launchers, and anti-aircraft systems. The group has now started focusing on acquiring deadlier weapons like nuclear devices, which they do not currently possess. The article talks about a hypothetical scenario involving claims that ISIS would be ready to purchase nuclear bombs from Pakistan within a year. It states that as the Islamic State now has billions of dollars in revenue, it could easily call on their ‘wilayah’ or province in Pakistan to buy a nuclear bomb. This, as claimed in the article, could be done very easily through a lot of weapons dealers who are connected to corrupt government officials in the region.

Though the article suggests that the scenario is a little far-fetched, it warns that it is the sum of all the fears and insecurities from intelligence agencies in the Western world. This has given rise to the need for acquiring a nuclear bomb, and that looks infinitely more possible today, than just a year ago. It suggests that if not a nuclear device, the group would use a few thousand tons of ammonium nitrate explosives, as that would be easy to make. The article says that one such attack against America launched by ISIS will ridicule all the attacks in the past. It claims that ISIS is planning to pull off an attack of truly epic proportions.

The capacity of ISIS to acquire a nuclear device at the moment looks beyond their reach. However, one must not forget how well-funded the terror group is, as they have seized many oilfields in Iraq and Syria. Their main income is selling oil in the black-market. The sale of historic artefacts looted from a number of historic regions captured by ISIS militants, sometimes gets the group a six figure amount. Apart from this, the terrorist group has imposed taxes on civilians trapped in this self-styled caliphate, who are following a faith other than Islam. Though it is impossible to accurately verify, the finances of the group are currently estimated at $2 billion.

These threats have come after ISIS gained control of Palmyra, the ancient city of Syria, and Ramadi in Iraq, but have been driven out of Tikrit. In the month of September, 2014, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, cautioned that the terrorist group could truly become the world’s first terrorist state. She had said that with the capabilities of a nation-state, the terrorists were bound to gain access to biological, chemical, as well as nuclear bombs to attack the Western world. The claim that ISIS would be ready to purchase nuclear bombs from Pakistan within a year definitely asks for a renewed effort in fighting and neutralizing the terror group.

By Ankur Sinha

Sources:
The Independent-Isis claims it could buy its first nuclear weapon from Pakistan within a year
Mirror-ISIS boasts it ‘could buy first nuclear weapon in less than 12 months’
The Times Of India-ISIS claims it could buy its first nuclear weapon from Pakistan within 12 months